There will be several of these "Travelogue" installments from Custer State Park in the months to come; it is a fascinating and large area in central region of the Black Hills in South Dakota, where in some scenes of "Dancing with Wolves" was filmed. I'll begin with the magnificent Bighorn Sheep...
Unlike the more recent Travelogue installments, these images were taken earlier in my filming there, on a video camera that had a memory stick for taking small-sized still photos; hence, they are not as large and razor sharp as the newer ones from a different camera. As always, click and enlarge these snaps for a better look...
You have to first have a firm and deep respect of animals before approaching to photograph them. Sadly, too many tourists are foreign to that concept, which is why I shoot alone. Their eyes and body postures will tell you everything you need to know for proper decorum.
These pictures were taken in late fall of 2004. By February of 2005, an estimated 75% of the herd of 200 were killed by a flu strain spread through neighboring domestic sheep herds. Of the adult rams pictured here, chances are each one is now gone. Tragic, yes, but the herd will slowly rebound. This "kid" is one that happened to have made it...
I've got lots o' buffalo pics, too...they have a healthy permanent herd at Custer and manage them closely for their optimum health and herd size. Keeping your distance is paramount with these beautiful creations...
It is a magical thing to get close to them (in this case in a car) and turn the engine off...sitting silently and just watching for long periods of time...even softly playing some flutes for them, which they responded to with undescribable interest...as if they knew from whence the instrument came...
And late one winter's afternoon, when I stopped to watch a large bull, I happened to have turned my eyes to the west, only to see a lone coyote trotting to somewhere familiar in the fading light of day...
As the great Ponca Chief Standing Bear is quoted as saying,
"Man's heart away from Nature becomes hard."
Amen.
Unlike the more recent Travelogue installments, these images were taken earlier in my filming there, on a video camera that had a memory stick for taking small-sized still photos; hence, they are not as large and razor sharp as the newer ones from a different camera. As always, click and enlarge these snaps for a better look...
You have to first have a firm and deep respect of animals before approaching to photograph them. Sadly, too many tourists are foreign to that concept, which is why I shoot alone. Their eyes and body postures will tell you everything you need to know for proper decorum.
These pictures were taken in late fall of 2004. By February of 2005, an estimated 75% of the herd of 200 were killed by a flu strain spread through neighboring domestic sheep herds. Of the adult rams pictured here, chances are each one is now gone. Tragic, yes, but the herd will slowly rebound. This "kid" is one that happened to have made it...
I've got lots o' buffalo pics, too...they have a healthy permanent herd at Custer and manage them closely for their optimum health and herd size. Keeping your distance is paramount with these beautiful creations...
It is a magical thing to get close to them (in this case in a car) and turn the engine off...sitting silently and just watching for long periods of time...even softly playing some flutes for them, which they responded to with undescribable interest...as if they knew from whence the instrument came...
And late one winter's afternoon, when I stopped to watch a large bull, I happened to have turned my eyes to the west, only to see a lone coyote trotting to somewhere familiar in the fading light of day...
As the great Ponca Chief Standing Bear is quoted as saying,
"Man's heart away from Nature becomes hard."
Amen.
